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Based out of Eau Claire, WI, Laarks is a band that features current and former members of Amateur Love, DeYarmond Edison, Land of Talk, Peter Wolf Crier, Echo Bravo, The Softrocks, Laughing Bell, Sic Transit Gloria, and The Shouting Matches. Their debut album, An Exaltation of Laarks, was released on Absolutely Kosher Records on November 3, 2009 (LP to come Jan. 12). They are looking to play shows in a town near you.

Their singer is a big-ass jerk. So is their drummer. The other two are varying degrees of tolerable.

Here's what other people are saying about Laarks:

An Exaltation of Laarks listed at No. 18 on Amazon's Outstanding '09 Albums You Might Have Missed list

"Irresistible. Strongly resembling now defunct Eau Claire forebears Amateur Love , and featuring the same dynamo drummer in Brian Moen, Laarks high drama electro-pop prominently features innumerable tasty keyboard textures, aggressively shifting rhythms and taut guitar work. Those still hoping against hope that Ben Gibbard gets around to making another Postal Service album sometime this decade might be better served by checking out Laarks, who may lack PS’ beats per minute but provide nearly as compelling a fusion of organic and electronic rock textures."
(Reveille Magazine)

"An Exaltation of Laarks showcases not only the complexities of Jacoby and company’s songwriting, full of winding progressions and mood swings galore, but also an array of drummer Brian Moen’s intricate engineering skills... Songs start and end in a bath of guitar swells and muddled keyboard bleeps. Drums get run through layers of effects and filters, and vocal lines are harmonized and constantly shifting panels to attack from different perspectives. The 10 tracks fit together because of it, embracing the same artistic concepts and making the album feel more like a finished puzzle than separate pieces.”
(Volume One Magazine)

"This is one of my favorite albums of 2009 (and not just because they're from Eau Claire, WI), but Laarks combine all the best things about Ben Folds sense of humor and the simplicity of Spoon’s best work. Though the album is far from simple, and holds much more than a flat comparison can possibly provide. An Exaltation of Laarks is a fantastic debut album from a band that has my heart in a ziplock bag."
(InDigest Magazine)

"An Exaltation of Laarks ... boasts both bracing immediacy (in the slightly strangled tenor of frontman Ian Jacoby and the barbed-wire tones of guitarist Kyle Flater) and well-mannered melodies (Jacoby's tasteful keyboard textures and Brian Moen's dynamic, precise drumming). The group's tight weaving of electronic and organic rock textures comes off, at times, like a street tough's take on the Postal Service, and it's easy to envision similarly massive success if the right breaks come their way."
(City Pages)

"The band's debut album, An Exaltation of Laarks, is a sunny collection of pop gems reminiscent of Mute Math and Death Cab for Cutie. It's nearly impossible not to bob your head to the frantic, frazzled energy of "The S Stood for Science" or be swept up in the momentum of "All the Words You Can't Say Right." By contrast, "Where Do You Wanna Live?" is a simple and refreshingly upbeat ballad that is sweet without being sickly sentimental."
(Jonk Music)

"One band that shouldn't go without notice is Eau Claire's burgeoning art rock band, Laarks. I've seen them on two occasions, and they keep getting better. They're filling a void in Eau Claire right now, and you'd benefit yourself by checking them out. Think along the lines of Death Cab for Cutie with a more electronic backdrop, led mainly by keyboards. Plus, they added that cute extra "a" to achieve that "Scandinavian" effect. I wish I had more I could make fun of this band for other than an added vowel, because none of them go to school here and therefore could not beat my ass. But alas, I can't. They're good."
(The Spectator, UWEC)

" you are ugly and smelly, get a real job and put down the peace pipe you lazy stoners, Peter."
(Peter "moneymerge". After Ian called him a douche bag for trying to add us as a random friend on myspace.)